Norwich, UK
The crucifix reinstalled in the church at Doight. PICTURE: Rev Olwen Woolcock
An historic crucifix, which, for a century has been in UK church after being rescued during World War I by an Anglican army chaplain, has been returned to its original home in a French church.
Questions about the origin of the crucifix arose when the church of All Saints in the East Midlands community of Tinwell in Rutland was marking the centenary of World War I. An elderly parishioner explained that the crucifix had been found by army chaplain, Parson Percy Hooson, amid the ruins of a church in Doight, near Amiens, after the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Rescuing the crucifix from the destroyed building, Hooson brought it back to England where it was placed in All Saints, Tinwell, when he was appointed priest in charge.
At Doight, parishioners had given up all hope of ever seeing their historic crucifix again. Following the end of the campaign, Father Carlton, the village priest, recorded that “the church of Doingt is down…to get to the altar, I had to climb up a pile of rubble, made of whole beams, pieces of ceiling or vault, debris from the pulpit, bricks, slates. The altar is stripped as on Holy Thursday. No more candelabras, no more candles, no more crucifix!”
Fast forward to 2018, where, amid the World War I centenary commemorations at All Saints in Tinwell, teenager Jonno McDevitt asked whether the cross should be sent back to its home in France.
Rev Olwen Woolcock told Sight what happened next.
“The church looked up to find whether the village still existed and found that it had been rebuilt and was on the map,” she said. “We made the first approach to Doingt about four years ago. At first there was no response, but then Hubert Boizard from the local historical society got back in touch with us – but any plans had to be postponed because of the impact of COVID and COVID restrictions. We also had to get permission from the diocese and make some plans, which took most of last year.”
In the end, she said it was “a great coincidence that we ended up returning the crucifix on 1st July – the same date as the anniversary of the start of the Battle of the Somme in 2016.”
The crucifix was taken back to France by a group of parishioners, which included members of Jonno McDevitt’s family, and was the focus of special services in Doight. An English bugler sounded the Last Post at the World War I cemetery located near to the church where soldiers from the UK and Australia are buried. Later, during the installation ceremony led jointly by Rev Woolcock and Father Jean-Louis Brunel, priest-in-charge at Doigt, the crucifix was re-installed in its historic home.
The church in Doight, see after it was destroyed during World War I and today. PICTURES: Courtesy of Rev Olwen Woolcock
The crucifix being reinstalled in the church at Doight. PICTURE: Courtesy of Rev Olwen Woolcock
Speaking after the service, Father Jean-Louis Brunel reportedly described the occassion as “a great opportunity to remember the past when your country defended France and freedom”.
“This crucifix has a very strong symbolic value as a pledge of peace and hope,” he is reported to have said in comments provided to Sight. “This resonates all the more strongly as the war in Ukraine reminds us that freedom is a value that must always be defended.”
“For the Christians of the two communities of Tinwell and Pérrone, it is an even stronger symbol since this crucifix is the representation of Christ who suffered and died for us. To see this crucifix picked up in the ruins of the church return today to the church of Doigt after having been previously kept for more than a hundred years in Tinwell is a message of hope.”
